Basel Zoo has a new baby gorilla. Makala, an 11-year-old female, gave birth to her first infant, named Xola, on 24 September, which is also World Gorilla Day, and the zoo made the birth public on Monday. It is the first birth in the group since two young animals died earlier this year.
The arrival follows a difficult period for the zoo’s group of western lowland gorillas. The father is Yeba, the 14-year-old dominant male of the group, who in July fatally injured two young members of the troop in separate incidents a short time apart. During a fight with Joas, a 37-year-old female, he bit the infant she had given birth to only a few days earlier. Shortly before that, Mobali, an 11-year-old male, had to be put down after Yeba bit him on the genitals.
After the two deaths, the zoo said it was keeping a close watch on relations within the group and seeking advice from experts. It stepped up its monitoring as the date of Makala’s expected birth approached. So far, the zoo reports, social contact within the troop is going smoothly. Keepers will continue to observe the group closely in the months ahead, as the infant stays close to its mother.
Makala, who is raising her first infant, has proved a careful mother, carrying the infant close to her body. In the coming months the baby will stay near her and feed regularly; gorilla mothers usually nurse their young for three to four years. For now, Makala keeps some distance from the rest of the group and withdraws to a quiet spot when the others become too curious. Qaziba, a seven-year-old female, has shown particular interest, approaching cautiously and gently stroking the baby. Contact of this kind helps young females learn how to raise offspring of their own later on, according to the zoo.
Each birth carries weight for the species, which is why zoos follow such events closely. Western lowland gorillas are listed as critically endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and their numbers in the wild continue to fall because of hunting and the destruction of their habitat. The zoo’s breeding programme is not without critics, however: the Fondation Franz Weber has called on Basel Zoo to stop breeding gorillas altogether.
